Harry Potter and the Lost Angel
by Pm Prodigy
Summary: Just prior to first year Harry comes across a Denarian coin, the fallen angel offers her assistance. Story will cover first year and I plan to continue it all the way through to 7th year.
1. Chapter 1 - When Life Gives you Candy

Obligatory "I don't own Harry Potter and I love you J.K. Rowling"

This is going to be a Denarian Harry story. The inspiration to write my own came from Shezza with his/her amazing Denarian Trilogy, but mine will definitely be very different from his/hers. I won't reveal too much to you now, but I really hope you enjoy the ride!

Chapter 1 – When Life Gives you a Candy Bar

"Dudley, I already told you that I don't know who took your stupid candy bar!" Harry shouted as he walked just ahead of Dudley on the road back to the house from school. With a feeling of dread at the coming fight with his "family", he considered simply just not going back today. What was really the point? They hated him and almost everything he did unless it benefited them, and they would take Dudley's side regardless of evidence.

"Nobody else knew the candy bar was there, you're the only person that knows where I put my candy!" yelled Dudley in a whiny voice, who was irate that he wouldn't be able to eat his second candy bar that he saved for his after school snack.

They came upon the large bridge that was on the way home and Harry was walking just ahead of Dudley. "Dudley, I didn't take it and I don't know where it is, so just leave me alone!" He started to walk a bit faster, not wanting it to go any further than that.

There was almost never any traffic on this bridge at this time of the day, and the few cars that did pass by were unaware of the escalating argument between the two boys. His walking faster had only made Dudley angrier as he struggled to keep up with his much larger body. Just walking faster than normal he was already starting to breathe heavy.

"You think you'll get away with this but you have another thing coming, freak. Wait until I tell mum and dad about you stealing from me again!" He shouted, slightly out of breath.

Truthfully, Harry actually did steal the candy bar but he wasn't about to admit that. He didn't really feel any guilt about it because he really didn't get enough food while he was at home and he tended to just take it where he could. Dudley wasn't the only person he stole from, but he'd never actually been caught. He was quite sneaky when he needed to be, which was almost all the time.

"Dudley I've never stolen anything from you, you big fat idiot, just leave me alone!" Harry shouted, his temper getting the best of him.

Insulting Dudley was never a very good idea, his cousin had a lot of weight on him and although most of it was fat and he wasn't particularly fast, Harry was more than a little malnourished and didn't have a lot of muscle mass. While he was probably quite a bit faster than Dudley and could probably go longer distances, the size difference alone gave Dudley a huge advantage if he wasn't able to get away. Harry also wasn't particularly violent either; he'd never wanted to fight with anybody, really.

However Harry rarely got what he wanted and Dudley yelled in outrage at the insult, proclaiming that he wasn't fat and he'd show him just how much more muscular than him he was. Dudley was beyond words when it came to this point, and Harry was well used to it as it happened often enough. Dudley threw these temper tantrums quite frequently at the house when the neighbors couldn't see, and sometimes even when they could.

Harry heard him before he saw him, and by then it was just too late as he'd just barely started to turn around. Dudley slammed into the side of Harry causing his head to whiplash, knocking his glasses off, and shoved him down on to the sidewalk, shoulder first. It hurt a lot.

Harry usually did try to fight back in these situations, almost always to his detriment, but when he lost his glasses and his shoulder felt like it was pretty badly bruised already, it put him at a huge disadvantage. Also he knew that Vernon would be furious if his glasses broke and they'd need to spend more money on him to buy him a new pair of glasses. The two boys were both upset and beyond words at this point and Harry managed to scramble out from underneath his cousin. He looked around quickly and fortunately he spotted his glasses.

Quickly, Harry put the glasses on and started to run away, but Dudley had recovered enough and Harry didn't make it more than a couple steps. Harry heard him coming from behind and managed to twist out of the way of his fist, but not quite out of the way of his body. He felt his back hit the side of the bridge rails and winced in pain.

Shaking in anger and fright, Harry did his best to grapple his cousin and push him to the ground. Dudley, however, was much stronger than him. Overpowering Harry, Dudley shoved him back. Dudley was intending to shove him against the guard to the river and beat him up there, but just as he was doing so, Harry twisted to try and get out of his grip and Dudley accidentally pushed Harry's small frame right through one of the guards.

Suddenly Harry was falling.

Dudley just stared, dumbfounded and surprised at what just happened and watched. It seemed a lot longer than it actually was as Harry fell.

Yelling all the way down, Harry barely even made a splash as he fell the twenty or so feet into the rapid river. It was impossible to see much of anything and the cold shock jolted his senses. Luckily it was coming up on summer or the river would have been either frozen or freezing cold. Even so the water was still pretty damn cold. The shock of hitting the water caused him to take a gasping breath before he could stop himself and his throat and lungs took in a small amount of water as he plunged into the depths. Luckily he didn't hit any rocks or anything during his fall.

Harry flailed his limbs and broke to the surface after a bit of a struggle. He sputtered and coughed, fighting against the current, he tried to expel the water as best he could, his throat was aflame and his lungs were burning with the cold and unwelcome liquid. His clothing was weighing him down heavily along with his backpack; his arms flailing around him through the water were getting caught in the straps. Luckily for him his handed down for what seemed like multiple generations backpack was not in the best of shape, and as he struggled he felt one of the straps snap and the backpack mercifully was swept away, taking a lot of the weight with it.

Desperately, he tried to swim towards shore or find anything to stop his flow through the river. As he was paddling, his hand suddenly caught on a large rock but he couldn't quite get a firm enough hold and all he succeeded in doing was scraping his hand as he continued his path rapidly down the river.

He was pulled down like this for a few minutes and it seemed like much more time passed than actually did to Harry, who was just barely hanging above the surface of the rapidly flowing water. His legs were starting to burn from the struggle against the current, and he was seriously struggling to get enough oxygen. Every breath was painful and it was too far for his small body and the strong river was too much for him.

Unsure of how close he was to shore, and just as his strength was giving out, his floating was abruptly stopped as he slammed into a large boulder in the middle of the river. He cried out in pain as he thought he felt a rib or two break. The water was rushing over him and he scrambled and clawed against the rock, using the last of his strength desperately trying to get purchase on the tiny island and out of the water.

Delirious and gasping for air, Harry climbed with his feet and hands as hard as he could and finally made it out of the coursing river. Finally out, he lay down face first in the dirt and rocks on the island and tried to catch his breath, coughing out bits of water every now and again. Shivering from the cold, Harry had learned about hypothermia in school and knew he was in pretty serious trouble still. He knew he needed to get up and get some help or he could die, he couldn't just lay here and wait for help to come find him.

Doing his best to ignore the pain all over, especially in his side, Harry slowly got on his knees and tried to make out anything around him. Most of the world was just a blur, except for things very close up, but he could make out what he was sure was the tree line not too far at all from where he was on his small rock island and felt a small bit of hope.

He rested on his hands and knees on the tiny island for a couple minutes, doing his best to catch his breath and physically as well as mentally prepare for the rest of the swim; luckily it was only a bit further to the shore. As soon as he felt like he could, he tried to move and winced at the pain he felt in his side. He wasn't sure if he'd broken anything, but it was going to be a painful bruise at the best. Unsteadily, he began to stand up.

That's when he saw it. His shivering and heavy breathing suddenly stopped. Noise came to a halt around him and he lost focus on everything else except for a small silver coin. His eyes focused in as he stretched out still on all fours in the process of standing up, and picked it up in his fingers. Harry held the coin up to his eyes, luckily he could see things fine close up. On the one side, he saw what looked like a portrait of a strikingly powerful and severe looking woman, but still beautiful he thought.

Tentatively, he reached out a finger to brush the figure on the coin. He felt a strong shiver of pleasure go through him and saw a blue jolt of electricity arc across his hand. He twitched violently, but surprisingly the shock didn't hurt at all. In fact it actually felt kind of good… like a rapid tingly caress almost. Distantly he thought he might have heard a voice, so soft like a whisper.

Harry whipped his head up to look around for whoever was speaking to him, a woman he was sure, but he staggered while doing so and in his still very vulnerable state he slipped off the tiny island and yelled as he fell back into the river. Knowing the coin was special; he desperately held on to it and tried to swim towards the shore which he luckily knew the direction of now since he'd glimpsed the tree line. He was having a hard time keeping afloat in his panicked state and breathing was becoming more difficult as he tired out quickly.

' _Be calm and swim'_

Harry twitched as he heard the voice, unsure of where it was coming from because it was so soft as if it was barely there at all, but it seemed so… present. Perhaps he had been just imagining it? Maybe someone was on the shore that saw him fall into the river? They must be close if he could hear them over the noise of the rushing water. Hope filled Harry, as well as a sense of calm, and he began swimming more steadily and made his way to shore. Very soon afterwards, as he was paddling, he felt his knee hit rock and knew he had made it. Elated even though it hurt a bit, he did his best to stand in the more shallow part of the river. He was buffeted by the current as he unsteadily made his way to the river shore.

Finally on land, Harry fell to his knees and then to his stomach, his face in the rocky shore. He took a few gasping deep breaths, happy to be alive. Lifting his head up, he tried to look for the owner of the voice he was sure he had heard, but didn't see anybody around. Feeling exhausted he laid down on the rocks around the shore for about five minutes, just catching his breath. At this point he figured he was so exhausted that he must have just imagined the voice in his head.

When he had finally caught his breath he realized he was still pretty cold and that it was starting to get late, it was well past time for him to be home. Harry started to panic at the thought of going home, "oh no uncle Vernon is going to kill me, he'll think I have run away again," he said miserably, quietly speaking to himself with a tremble in his voice.

With that thought in mind, Harry got up to make his way back up the river. His hands were pretty scraped up as well as his knees, but he didn't think he'd actually broken any bones. His side was definitely bruised, however. While walking he reached into his pockets, pulling the coin he had found out. He looked down at the coin and checked it out a bit more closely as he walked. On the other side of the coin there was a triangle and inside the triangle was what looked like three of those simple infinity looking fishes that he and other kids would draw, one large vertical one and two small horizontal ones attached to the ends of the large one, all flowing together.

Harry set his fears set to the side for the moment, he knew he needed to just get home and he was hopeful that it wouldn't be too bad. He started the trek back up to the road he fell into the river from. It took him a much longer time to walk back than it did to float down the river which was only about 10 minutes or so he figured. He guessed that he had probably floated for about 2 or so miles down the river. It took him about 30 minutes to walk back, and he noticed that his shivering had actually lessened quite a bit thanks to the summer sun but he was exhausted.

He reached the bridge and crossed over for the second time or time and a half technically, making his way back home. It was only about a ten minute walk from the bridge back to the house he lived in. As he made his way back he started to get nervous about what Vernon would do because he was late and he had also lost his glasses.

Suddenly he was in front of his house and walking up to the front door. He paused briefly outside to collect himself and before he could even touch the doorknob to open the door it swung wide open and Vernon was suddenly there in front of him, with an absolutely furious look his face.

"Boy, you will get inside this instant or so help me I will gladly report you as a runaway and have you sent to a youth detention facility faster than you can possibly imagine!" said Vernon, trying his hardest not to yell outside, purpling with rage.

Harry instinctively flinched and took a step back which Vernon took for him about to run away which only made him angrier. Before he could do anything of the sort Vernon grabbed his small arm and literally lifted the small boy over the step and threw him inside the house. Harry cried out as he hit the doorframe on the way in and then the floor. In shock and pain, unsure what exactly Vernon was so furious about, Harry just laid there and gasped.

"You think you can get in a fight with my boy, try to run off from home, and then come crawling back here and hope we'll forgive you?" Vernon snarled, "well you've got another thing coming you ungrateful little bastard." At this point Harry was frozen in fear and unable to speak, he had never seen Vernon so angry. Defending himself would be pointless, he knew. He felt tears run down his face as Vernon yelled at him.

"You're going in your cupboard for three days! No food! If I hear one word from you in there I will come for you and I will show you what happens to those who cross my family," at this point Vernon got very close up to Harry's face on the floor and said much more quietly, "If you ever try to hurt Dudley again, I will kill you," he snarled, spittle flying from his mouth as he spoke and onto his face. Harry believed him too. He knew that nobody in this family truly cared about him and Vernon seemed to hate him more than any of them, or at least he acted on it more often and aggressively.

Harry made to stand but before he could Vernon grabbed him by the neck and forcefully threw him into the conveniently already open cupboard. Harry cried out as he went head first into the wall inside his cupboard and suddenly he was seeing stars as he impacted against the wall. Very dazed, he vaguely felt Vernon twist him so his legs were on his bed and then heard the door slam shut and the multiple locks on the cupboard latch.

Blissfully, he fell into unconsciousness and felt pain no more.

Harry woke up to silence and he didn't move. He remembered his uncle's threats to harm him if he made any noise and he wanted to find out if they were home or if it was just late at night first. He couldn't see any light coming in from the door so either it was very late night or it was just before morning. Slowly he tried to move his head, but as soon as he did he felt a flash of pain in his neck and grimaced as the top of his head also felt like it was on fire. Reaching a hand up slowly and gingerly, he went to touch and feel what was causing him pain.

He winced as he touched his head; even the slight pressure of his fingers was causing him pain. His hair felt matted and he knew that it was blood in his hair that had dried, causing it to stick together and to his head. He retracted his hands and lay there, unmoving except to breathe. Softly, he began to cry at his predicament, he felt the tears run quietly down his face and didn't even bother to brush them away as they fell into his pillow. He felt so powerless, he cried himself to sleep like this.

When he next woke the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't in pain. Secondly, he wasn't lying down anymore but rather his back was against a large tree. Feeling surprised, he looked around and up to the sky. His first thought was that Vernon had taken him and dumped him outside somewhere to just be rid of him, but as he looked around he wasn't quite sure where he actually was. The place seemed totally unnatural, but it didn't feel like any dream he'd had before. It was too vivid.

There didn't appear to be a sun or a moon but he could see what he thought looked like some stars. Oddly enough, he could still see everything as if there was perfect lighting. In fact, there were no shadows that he could see anywhere. Gazing around he couldn't help but be taken aback by the beauty of the place, wherever he was. He didn't have his glasses on, but even so the detail was surreal, and he realized that this is probably what it was like to have perfect vision.

As he was looking around, he suddenly noticed a woman in front of him that hadn't been there just moments before. She sat cross legged on the ground, a solemn expression on her face. Her eyes were electric blue, a deep color and they were silently but confidently observing Harry, looking him up and down. She was wearing what looked to be robes of some kind, though Harry thought to himself that they were suited more for Halloween than every day wear. The material they were made of looked expensive, though.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Harry asked, speaking first.

She made eye contact with Harry for a bit before she spoke, her voice was just as beautiful as she was, "My name is Aliyah and you are Harry Potter, as far as where we are…." she gestured around her as she spoke, "that answer is a bit more complicated, because this place technically doesn't exist in a geographical sense," she stood as she said this and Harry noticed that she was quite tall. He figured she was probably around 5'8" or so. She made her way over to Harry and offered him her hand.

"How do you know my name, and what do you mean by doesn't exist?" asked Harry, feeling wary of this stranger and not taking her hand quite yet. Harry trusted nobody.

"Come and I will show you," she replied, seemingly unconcerned that he was showing he was uncomfortable with her. Harry was unsure what she meant by show him how she knew his name, but figured he'd just go along with it. He took her hand tentatively and she effortlessly pulled him to his feet. As soon as he was standing the scenery rapidly changed and they were in his classroom at school. He jerked around in shock, and then he noticed that he was standing in front of himself, watching himself work on the test that they had taken just a few days ago to finish up the semester at school.

"This is from my memory… this is the weirdest dream I've ever had" Harry said, a slightly shocked tone to his voice.

Aliyah laughed, a beautiful noise, and looked to harry, "Yes, we are within your mind along with all your memories, but this is no dream, beloved child. I brought you here because there are things we must discuss."

"So I've finally gone crazy have I? I did have an imaginary friend when I was really young, but that was years ago, and it was never this real. I didn't think I'd ever have another one, I certainly didn't intentionally create you," said Harry, feeling a bit more relaxed knowing that he was within his own mind. Before he'd even finished speaking the scene had changed and they stood once again within the forest.

The woman just seemed amused at this train of thought and had a small smile on her face. "No, while I may not have a corporeal form in your world, I am not a figment of your imagination, and you most certainly did not create me. As I said, I am Aliyah. I am here to offer my help to you, child. You've been alone for so long, hurting for so long. While you slept I felt your dreams, the nightmares, the loneliness... and the despair" as she went on, she genuinely seemed to get sadder.

Harry felt insecure that someone knew he had those feelings, and he was unsure what to do at this point; he'd never had anybody bring up his feelings like this to him before. Nobody had ever offered to help him like this before either.

"How could you possibly help me? And how did you bring me here anyways? I mean I've had thoughts and dreams that might be similar, but I've never actually stood within my own mind or own memories before. Am I still actually sleeping?" He asked, still not fully believing he wasn't just crazy.

"Right now your body is in a sort of coma, you were seriously injured by your… guardian," She had a disgusted look on her face and Harry thought he could actually _feel_ the anger she felt, but that feeling quickly faded. "You're fortunate that I was here, or else you would be in a much worse state," she looked upon him sympathetically, and started answering his other questions.

"Going within your own mind is a talent that any magical being with a mind and the desire to learn how is able to do. Even some special non-magicals learn how to do it, but it takes far more effort for them. It's much less commonly utilized now in this age, but it is dreadfully underrated and certainly useful for many things; most important would be protecting your own mind but that certainly doesn't diminish the other potential benefits," Aliyah explained, looking around with him at the scenery of the forest, observing the details in the foliage.

Harry gave her a confused look, "what do you mean by 'magical?" He asked.

She looked him in the eyes again and frowned, "I suppose you wouldn't know," she stopped frowning and sighed, looking down upon him. "This brings us to why we're currently here," she said, "You have a… illness of sorts, something that is feeding off your magic and your mind. It is a parasite, more or less, though far more insidious. Your mind and your magic have been fighting it, and I think you likely would have lost the battle within a few years," as she finished she looked up towards the sky and closed her eyes and then looked down again after a few seconds, but something about her demeanor had changed.

She looked at Harry seriously, and he almost took a step back when he saw her eyes that were practically crackling with power, "Though I may not look it, beloved, I am old, ancient even. I have knowledge of the art of magic lost to the ages, magic that others fear to even attempt at learning, magic that can shake the Earth and boil the very seas." Her expression softened, though the power was still visible in her eyes, "I see how your family treats you, and they do not care for you. They hurt you. I can help you stop them from hurting you, I can give you power and protect you. I will be all you'd ever need. Most importantly, I will remove this hideous parasite and save your life."

Harry had his mouth open in awe at her display, "I'm still not convinced that I'm magical, and it isn't that I'm ungrateful, but what is it you gain from this? Why help me?" He asked, looking for a reason to put his trust in her. He didn't necessarily fear death, but he didn't want to die just yet either, so her offer was fairly tempting.

She grimaced distastefully, "while that may be effectively true about being magical for now, I can assure you that you are. I can banish the parasite from within you, and I can give you access to power such as that you will never feel weak again. You'll be able to protect yourself and anybody that you love." Aliyah was passionate and her deep blue eyes were arcing with electricity still as she spoke to Harry. "I can give all this to you, if you just let me help you."

She continued, "I will never lie to you, the Old Law I'm bound to follow makes it impossible for me to lie. I won't deny to you that there are things I will ask in return, mostly just small things, and it would be years from now, possibly decades. I am old and with that I have developed a great deal of patience, but I also have made some enemies through the years. Powerful enemies some, others weak. Your potential for power seems to be high, but with me it's a certainty. In return for making you powerful, I would ask that you help me… take care of certain people from my past."

Harry looked at her, curious and hopeful but also wary, "what are you then, a guardian angel?" he asked quietly.

Aliyah sat down on the ground in her cross legged pose again at this point and Harry joined him sitting down with his back against the same oak tree. She gave him a sad smile and gestured to his palm. Harry looked down and noticed that he was holding the coin he had found earlier and realized that she was the woman on the coin. "Normally I don't go over this on the first day, but I'll make an exception in your case. This is my curse. I was once an angel, one of gods' creations and chosen," Harry's eyes widened at this point in disbelief. "I carried out his duties faithfully until one day he asked of me something I could not, would not do. He punished me for my disobedience by casting me out from the heavens along with 28 others." Her face looked angry and bitter as she spoke of Him.

"That coin is currently resting in your pocket with you in your cupboard in the real world, it is my vessel and so long as it is touching or at least very near your skin then I can see what you see, hear what you hear, and feel what you feel. Without you… there is nothing but darkness in the void," she paused and grimaced as she spoke of the void. "You are my only connection to the mortal world. I have been alone for so long… you and I are very similar in that way and I will NOT go back" she shivered as she finished, and her tone sounded haunted.

Harry felt a pang in his heart for her at this and wanted to help her, "what happened?" he quietly asked, not understanding why anybody would want to give up being an angel.

Aliyah had an unfathomable expression on her face and was silent for quite some time before she spoke, "back long ago, before time existed here in the mortal realm, we were the first of God's creations, we were his Children and we did what was asked of us because we were created to be obedient, we were an extension of his will. Much, much later, he created the humans. We angels were made _of_ God, we were His children and extensions of his will. You were made _from_ Him, but also his children, however you were not restricted like us; you had free will." She gave him a sad smile.

"At the very beginning and for quite some time we lived amongst you side by side in the mortal world. Though angels are immortal beings, we still can and do experience emotions as humans do. We love just as you do and yes we even hate just as much as you do. Some amongst us fell in love with the humans' ways of life and created offspring, human and angel hybrids. For a time they were allowed to grow and many of them even grew in to adulthood. God allowed this to happen for the time being, and they grew to be heroes in the human world, beings of great power and magic, capable of amazing feats."

"However, God soon changed his mind and felt that the barrier between the Old World and the New World was threatened by these beings. While we were created and bound to follow the Old Law, these hybrids did not need to adhere to those ways. They were, while not a direct threat to him personally, a threat to his absolute power, a threat he learned he could not stand for when one of them went rogue and murdered an entire town in revenge for the murder of his wife and children. We were ordered to hunt down and kill all of the hybrid children and the angels who caused this were all cast down."

She hesitated for a bit and Harry could tell she had more to say, but she just looked at him still with that same unreadable expression on her face, "so now you know what I am, you know more of what I potentially could offer you, what is your answer?" She asked him, after putting all the cards on the table for him to see.

Harry was blown away by the story, he didn't think he had really even believed in God before this and wasn't sure if he did still at this point, but she had sounded so genuine as she relived her tale. "If I accept, you'll get rid of the parasite for me?" He asked her, looking up at her vulnerably.

She smiled, knowing that she had convinced him at this point, "yes beloved, I will do that and much, much more for you." Her face turned to a serious expression again, but also looked soft and caring as she spoke again, "I must warn you, though, it will be painful for you while I banish the creature."

Harry set his jaw determinedly and looked up at her, "I understand, I wouldn't expect anything less in my life, and it seems like I don't have much of a choice anyways," he said with a tiny smile.

She gave a small smile back, and then again her face turned resolute and power crackled as her entire eye sockets suffused with lightning and power, "then let us begin."


	2. Chapter 2 - Power Overwhelming

Chapter 2 – Power Overwhelming

Harry was thrust back to the waking world. Thankfully he noticed that his wounds did feel a bit better already.

 _You must take hold of the coin within your palm, and no matter what happens do not let go. We need to complete our connection and solidify our bond. No matter what you feel, know that I do this for you, beloved child._

It felt extremely weird to hear an actual voice in your own head, let alone a beautiful woman that introduced herself as an angel, and not for the first time today Harry questioned his own sanity. Regardless, he did what Aliyah told him to do and reached into his pocket to grab the coin. He grabbed it with his fingers and pulled it out, then twisted his hand over and let it fall into his palm. He closed his hand into a fist, and then he felt it.

The pain was immediately intense, unlike anything he'd ever felt before. The burning in his palm wasn't entirely new, he had experienced burns before, but the smell of sulfur was unexpected. It wasn't that, though, it was more the accompanying feeling that he just simply couldn't describe properly that added a surreal quality to the pain. It felt like his very essence was being… invaded. Slowly the sulfur smell intensified and he could feel every inch of his body, or maybe it was his soul, react to the new sensation of having another entity in his mind. One that he willingly invited this time. It was close to agony, but he thought she had over-exaggerated how much it would actually hurt. Harry could definitely handle this, he thought.

 _Be strong, beloved, it begins._

Uh oh, Harry thought to himself.

He braced himself, grabbing his blanket and putting it in his mouth like she had recommended earlier before he came back from his mind. It wouldn't do to wake the Dursleys, he still remembered the threat Vernon had made. Just as he finished doing so, it began. It started with what felt like a thunderbolt in his mind, and he literally saw blue suffuse his own vision as Aliyah took over. If he had thought it had been agony before, this was something even further beyond. It felt like his brain was literally exploding, like his mind was being torn to shreds in the struggle for dominance.

Flashes of blue light were nearly constant as it arced across his body as the struggle continued, and Harry softly screamed into his blanket. Slowly, he felt like something was being torn from within him. Unfortunately this something had what he could only describe as mental thorns lodged into him. Roughly, he latched his hands onto the frame of his bed and squeezed with every muscle in his body to distract him from the overwhelming sensation of pain.

Slowly, very very slowly, the creature was torn from him and he could tell it began to not just hold on tighter, but to actively fight back. He could feel the righteous fury from Aliyah from within him, and he latched onto that emotional rock as the battle reached a peak. A veritable sea of pain washed over him and cleansed him of any coherent thought. Aliyah was strong; she was unbeatable, he repeated to himself over and over. As the struggle ensued, he noticed that as well as an increase in the arcs of electricity there were also occasional flames dancing along with them in his vision as his body was doused in what felt like incredible heat.

Rather than hurting, though, the heat was actually kind of pleasant. He felt the power of it, and he knew that with whatever Aliyah drew her strength from that she was simply unbeatable. The smell of sulfur suffused his nostrils and he could tell the battle had taken a turn in Aliyah's favor. The creature began to struggle in earnest at this point, refusing to give up its hold in his mind and soul where it had fed and gotten stronger for so long.

Within his mind he heard a scream of pain as memories of his past resurfaced. He saw a green light, and a woman with red hair beg for mercy. The memories shattered through the pain, but reformed and returned with a vengeance, showing to Harry all the horrors of his infancy.

 _No, not the boy, take me instead!_

Harry felt a pang of sorrow, knowing that this woman had sacrificed herself for him. _This was my mother_ , he realized with a start. A thunderbolt flashed in his vision again, and he heard another scream, this time he thought it was from the parasite.

Harry cried at the memory and at the pain, unsure of which was truly the more painful for him in this moment. More than anything, he knew that this… thing, this parasite, was the one responsible for his mother's death. With a fury he had never felt before in his life, he himself reached within him for strength, to not only expel the creature. To destroy it.

Feeling within himself he found what he could only describe as a river, or maybe it was a sun. He couldn't quite tell, but he knew it was _him_.

 _Beloved, no! You cannot do this! It will cause your body and magic irreparable harm if you try this!_

Harry heard Aliyah, but the fury he felt was insurmountable. No words or force in this world could stop him, in fact it only made him want to do it even more. To take control of his own life, to destroy the things that harmed him, the thing that had harmed his family, the only people to ever love him.

He took hold of the energies within him and with a singular and clear motive he directed his energies towards one task; destroy. The electricity reached another crescendo, as did the hellfire, but they were both drowned out by the absolutely massive amount of power that was let out after being dormant for so long. It manifested as a green color, taking over the battle and taking hold of the parasite.

If Harry had to describe this he would say agony was an understatement, but at the same time it was also bliss. The power was intoxicating, as was the feeling of revenge. He felt the parasite scream, and then he felt it as it was torn apart by the sheer power swirling through him and he could feel and hear it scream even louder as it was sent to oblivion. To his surprise he felt what could best be described like… approval from Aliyah in his own mind.

As suddenly as it had happened, it was over. Some pain still lingered, but mostly it was just the after effects of his nerves being slightly damaged from the trauma. His body was not ready to handle as much power as he had released in such a short time. Nevertheless, he smiled a tiny smile, all that he could manage with his limited mobility. A few tears escaped his eyes as he remembered again the memory of his mother's death, but now he felt like he had avenged her.

He closed his eyes and let sleep take him again.

"Oh beloved… I am so sorry, I did not expect anything like that to happen," was the first thing Harry heard, and he knew it was Aliyah speaking.

Harry looked around his mind again, noticing that things actually looked a bit brighter than before, like there was an energy here that had been taken away from him. Harry looked to Aliyah and was shocked to see a single tear run down her face.

 _Angels aren't supposed to cry,_ Harry thought to himself.

Aliyah gave a small sad smile and then a short laugh at his thoughts. Her expression however suddenly turned very serious, "what you did was extremely irresponsible, beloved. You need to listen to me when I tell you what to or what not to do. Remember that when you get hurt, I get hurt as well, we share this body together now."

Harry looked down at his feet, embarrassed that he had lost control like that and done something so reckless, "I'm sorry, Ali, but I couldn't let him get away like that. I couldn't let him live after what he'd done," he said in a broken and sad tone, thinking of his mother and what he had lost.

Harry felt a hand under his chin that lifted his teary face up to gaze into Aliyah's eyes. She wiped the tears from his cheeks with soft and gentle hands, "Ali, huh?" she smiled at him, "I suppose it could be worse." She never lost her small smile as she spoke, "as much as I'm upset that you didn't listen to me, I want you to know that I'm also proud of you. Something I didn't tell you before is that all of the angels created by God had a general purpose to serve that was individual to us. I was the angel of justice, or sometimes vengeance."

Harry was shocked to hear this, how in the world had an angel of justice fallen?

Aliyah retracted her hand from his chin and ruffled his hair, adopting a pensive look on her face, "how indeed," was all she said, and then the smile returned.

"Luckily for both of us, you had so much power kept dormant that it didn't simply kill you to release so much at once. Unluckily for us, I have to heal your nerve endings so you can move and your magic will take months to be restored fully," she huffed in a very frustrated manner at the last part.

Harry smiled sheepishly, "so no permanent damage done, then? I'll call that a success. To be honest everything feels better already anyways. It feels like a shadow over my entire life has been lifted and the light is being let in now."

Aliyah smiled, "as much as I still think it was irresponsible and dangerous, I can't help but agree. The important thing is that it won't have any lasting effect physically, and emotionally you got to avenge your family. That is no small thing," she said, which made me feel immensely better.

Harry smiled at her, "so how long until you think I can move normally again?" He asked, afraid of the answer.

She tapped her finger against her chin in thought a couple of times, "it's hard to say exactly how long for sure, the real problem is that I haven't had the time to adjust to your neural pathways quite yet as that does take some time even for me. If you had done this a couple months from now it wouldn't have been a real issue. Frankly I'm impressed that you handled it so well, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what else we can train you to pull off."

"As it is, I think it will take about a week for everything to go back to normal except for your own magic, but you've lived without that your entire life so it probably won't be too difficult for you to manage without it for a couple or few months. In the meantime this also means that we can focus on different types of magic, and really drill in the basics for a solid foundation," she continued on to say, looking pretty content with the situation.

"However, there is still the issue of the Dursleys," she said.

Harry winced, not wanting to deal with them quite yet after such an emotionally and physically exhausting ordeal.

"You haven't eaten in two days and are severely injured, beloved. This needs to be addressed whether you want to or not," she calmly explained.

Harry was surprised to hear this, "it's already been two days? It feels like it's hardly been a single night," he said, surprised.

"Well I had to give you some time to heal before I put my plan into action, and time goes faster when you're practically in a coma," she replied.

Aliyah suddenly looked more alert, "someone is knocking on your door," she said.

"Like the door to my room? Or the door to the house?" Harry asked, Aliyah gave him a look when he referred to his cupboard as a room.

"The door to your _cupboard_ ," she said, strongly emphasizing the word and the difference between it and an actual room.

Harry began to look alarmed, thinking that maybe he had made too much noise during the struggle and had angered Vernon.

"Fear not beloved, even though you may be powerless at this point I am not. If need be I can and will protect you," her eyes arced as she said she would protect him, and Harry believed it.

Suddenly Harry was awake and back in his cupboard, as soon as he opened his eyes he heard another knock, but it was surprisingly soft.

"Boy, can you hear me? Are you alright?" he heard a soft voice ask him. He was pretty sure it was his Aunt Petunia, but she'd never spoken to him like this before. He was wary that this was a trap.

He cleared his throat as best he could, preparing to speak out loud, "yes Aunt Petunia, I'm fine," his voice came out extremely raspy, indicating that he clearly was not fine.

There was a pause on the other end and then a sigh, but she said nothing else and simply walked away. He heard the quiet footsteps as she left.

Harry sighed on his end as well, happy that he hadn't been too loud and woke Vernon. Petunia was absolutely rotten to Harry, but to her credit she never escalated to physical violence like Vernon had.

Slowly he started trying to move a bit, starting with his fingers. He wiggled them a bit as best he could, and was pleased that they did respond to his commands, albeit feebly. Harry lifted his arm up to lay across his chest and noted that while it did move, it felt almost numb, like he had just barely enough strength to move and that was it.

 _That's fairly accurate, beloved. My first and most important priority is to get you healed enough so you can get out and find some food. As it is I'm running low on reserves of energy that I can safely use stored in your body._

Harry wasn't that surprised, he was very skinny compared to other kids, with visible abs and rib bones.

Before he could really respond, he heard footsteps approaching again and then some fumbling with the locks. He froze in anticipation of what was about to come, and he also felt Aliyah go on high alert. He didn't know this but she was also releasing adrenaline into his body to prepare him for physical conflict and also pooling the energy she had left in case he needed it, as well as taking a hold of her unlimited reserve of hellfire.

When the last lock was removed, he stopped breathing and the cupboard door opened. Again he was surprised to see it was Aunt Petunia, and she gasped as she looked down at him. He was sure she smelled the urine as she opened the door, as her nose wrinkled in disgust at the smell. What he wasn't sure of was what the expression afterwards meant, it almost looked like… well it looked like pity.

Surprising Harry again, she handed him a plate that had two full sandwiches but into halves and a glass full of water. Harry mightily struggled to balance and maneuver the water over to the ledge next to his small cot as well as just resting the plate on his body. Aliyah noted that it was fortunate she had released the adrenaline, or that task might have not been possible in his current state.

Harry awkwardly avoided looking her in the eyes, and mumbled in his raspy voice again, "thank you."

Petunia was looking down at Harry with her lips pursed; her expression was currently unreadable to Harry. "You're welcome, I've left some clothes for you in the bathroom for after you shower whenever you're done eating and I'll wash the sheets for you when you're out of here. Vernon is out of the house and won't be back until late tonight."

Harry was shocked by this turn of events; Petunia had never done anything like this for Harry in his entire life that he could recall. He could count the times she had shown him kindness on one hand, and not raise a single finger. He was so shocked that he was sure he was gaping a little bit. She didn't wait for him to respond, however, and simply left him there with the cupboard door still open and the food in his room.

 _Well that went better than expected_ said Aliyah, who sounded very thoughtful.

"Yeah, now I just need to figure out how I'm going to eat this food," said Harry.

 _Beloved, be careful speaking aloud to me with people around, they will start to think you might be insane if they catch you,_ said Aliyah.

 _So can I just think and you'll hear me? Kind of weird to think that you can hear every one of my thoughts… Can you also see all of my memories?_ Asked Harry

 _I can hear every thought, but memories I can only see what you show me. I cannot dig through your mind into your past without some effort, and I feel it's not worth it to do so. Besides, learning about you the old fashion way is the most rewarding I feel._ Said Aliyah.

Harry accepted the answer and then realized how hungry he actually was, but even more prevalent than the hunger was the thirst. With great effort and some help from Aliyah in bolstering his nervous system, he slid the plate down to his lap and used his arms to push himself up into a sitting position on his cot.

As soon as he felt like he could do so, he shakily grabbed the water and started drinking, starting with small sips. He was glad for Vernon being such a whale at this moment, because he owned the most massive cups. Not wanting to drink all the water before he ate, however, he sat it back down on the ledge and picked up one of the sandwiches. What was even more surprising is that the sandwiches Petunia had made were actually really good. Generally if they made him food, which they almost never did anymore, it was simple like ham and bread. This sandwich however was glorious to Harry. It had lettuce, ham, cheese, mayo, and mustard. It was practically the most delicious thing he'd ever eaten in his entire life.

Slowly Harry ate, he honestly felt full after the first sandwich because of how shrunken his stomach was, but Aliyah convinced him to eat the second one saying that he would need whatever nutrition he could get for her plans. She dulled the full feeling, and Harry happily kept eating.

Aliyah seemed very pleased with the turn of events, and Harry told her so and asked her why she seemed so pleased.

 _Well this way we don't have to steal food immediately and I can heal you far faster with food energy than by breaking down and transporting muscle that's already in your body. This drastically improves our situation,_ she said, seemingly very happy.

Harry smiled as well and agreed that that did sound good, _although I can't say I like the sound of you breaking down my muscles for energy._

 _Well, it's not just energy. It's a much higher priority for you to have functional nerves than it is for you to have more lean body mass. We can work with smaller muscles, we can't work with damaged nerves nearly as easily,_ she responded.

 _That actually makes a lot of sense, so can normal people repair their nerves like this?_ Asked Harry.

 _Simplest answer is no, but longer answer is that nerves CAN regenerate sometimes, albeit at a rate far far slower than what I can achieve,_ she responded.

 _You mean to tell me that if I didn't have you, I would be this weak for the rest of my life?_ Harry asked, his eyes wide.

 _Hmmm, it's hard to say. I don't know if you would have ever fully recovered but being that you are still young it's likely that in a few years you would have grown back to be mostly functional,_ she replied.

 _A FEW YEARS? Man, well it's fortunate I have you then, how long until you can have me back to normal?_

 _With this new development, I'd say we're on track for just another day for you to be completely normal, and then we'll start working on some improvements,_ she sounded kind of smug as she said this.

 _Wow, that's amazing_ , thought Harry, who genuinely believed that, _what do you mean by improvements, though?_

 _It's a lot to go over and the actual chemistry is something you'd need more of a background to really understand. I will teach you someday, but suffice to say for now that I will just be… optimizing the way your entire body works. You will be faster and stronger, you won't be Superman by any means, but you'll certainly have a distinct edge over others,_ she finished explaining.

Harry thought that sounded pretty good and was quite happy with the new developments in his life. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt happy, and it was a really nice change of pace. Harry finished the water and then decided it was time to shower since it seemed like that's what Petunia wanted him to do.

Already he noticed that he was feeling less numb and that he could move much easier, mentally he thanked Aliyah who accepted it graciously. Still, though, he was not at 100% by any means. He currently sat on the edge of the cupboard door, and finally took a step down onto the hardwood floors. It was cool on his feet. He made his way to the living room and didn't spot Petunia anywhere.

In the living room he ran into his next adversary; the stairs. With a small sigh, Harry took a first step and pushed himself forward and up the stairs. It was difficult, but he could manage. Step by step, he made his way up to the bathroom that he and Dudley had shared for their entire lives so far.

As soon as he made it into the bathroom he came to another embarrassing realization.

 _You can't be serious, beloved? I'm in your mind and I'm not going anywhere, there's no reason to be shy._ She didn't actually sound angry, in fact she seemed more amused than anything, but this did nothing to curb the embarrassment Harry was currently feeling.

"Could you just like, not be here while I shower please?" he asked out loud, he noted his voice was now back to normal as well and was pleased.

 _Again, I am in your mind beloved. There is no truly escaping my presence, but if it makes you feel better I will pretend I am not here and mask my emotions better so you don't feel me._

With that, Harry felt her retreat and in a way he was actually kind of sad she had gone. As soon as he thought that he felt a warm and comforting probe, which quickly retreated again. He smiled and got undressed, feeling better. As soon as he was unclothed however, that good feeling was gone. His body was almost entirely covered in bruises, and as he looked in the mirror he could see his head and face were still covered in blood. Vernon and the river had really done a number on him, it was no wonder Petunia had gasped as soon as she saw him.

Again, though, he felt that comforting presence in the back of his mind. He made his way to the shower and turned the water on, testing the temperature to make sure it was quite hot. He didn't take hot showers very often because Vernon would yell at him if he saw any steam at all about raising his power bill, but he couldn't really care less right now and Vernon wasn't even home anyways.

As soon as he stepped in under the water it started to run down a dark brown with tinges of red from all the dried blood. He felt his scalp burning from the heat and the water, but knew it needed to be cleaned out regardless. He shampooed, used conditioner, and then rubbed himself down with a bar of soap. Harry didn't think he'd cleaned himself so thoroughly in a very long time, and it felt very cleansing.

Showering was one of his favorite things to do, it was a nice escape for Harry when he could just relax, and he did just that now. Sitting down naked with his legs crossed in the tub with the hot water raining down on him, he just relaxed. He must have done this for about fifteen minutes before he decided he didn't want Petunia to come check on him and got out and dried himself off.

As he put his clothes on, he felt Aliyah's comforting presence return fully into his mind and was reminded again just how nice it was to have her there.

 _I hope that you enjoyed that, beloved. We do need to start making some plans, though,_ she said to him.

Now fully dressed, he was combing his long hair and fantasizing about running away from this hellish place and where they could go or what they could do, much to Aliyah's amusement, when he heard another knock on the door. He froze again, an automatic reaction of fear.

"Harry a letter came for you in the mail today," said Petunia from the other side.


End file.
